Two Muslim Teenagers Killed in India Over Accusation of Cow Theft

Image

Halima Khatun, center, the mother of Abu Hanifa, one of two Muslim teenagers beaten to death by a mob, receiving medical treatment in her home in the northeastern Indian state of Assam on Monday.CreditCreditAnupam Nath/Associated Press

NEW DELHI — Villagers in the northeastern Indian state of Assam beat to death two Muslim teenagers they suspected of stealing cows, the latest in a string of mob assaults in the country.

A police official said the teenagers had been spotted untying two cows in a pasture on Sunday. When the owner shouted “Thieves, thieves,” a crowd of several hundred villagers gathered and began beating the youths.

When the teenagers, identified as Riazuddin Ali, 18, and Abu Hanifa, 16, broke free and tried to flee, the crowd chased them for a mile and a half, the police official, Debaraj Upadhay, chief of Nagaon District, said.

Raham Ali, Mr. Ali’s father, said his son was an auto rickshaw driver and had left that day to go fishing. Faizul Islam, Mr. Hanifa’s father, said his son sold vegetables for a living.

“He was not doing anything illegal,” Mr. Islam said. “If he was doing anything illegal, they should have handed him over to the police. Why did they kill him? My son was innocent, and the other boy was innocent.”

Jaynal Abidin, chief of the village, said neither of the teenagers had a criminal record.

News footage showed the two lying in a field, surrounded by men carrying sticks and belts. Police officers arrived on the scene and took the youths to a government hospital nearby.

One was dead on arrival and the other died minutes after arriving, said Pinaki Chakraborty, a police officer who took the two to the hospital.

Dr. Devajit Medhi, who attended to the victims, said they had injuries to their heads, stomachs and legs, and were bleeding profusely. He said it appeared the two had been beaten with blunt objects.

Over the last two years, Muslims in India have been attacked in a series of similar episodes, often by “cow protection” groups who said they had caught Muslims transporting the animals, legally or illegally. Hindus consider cows sacred, and they have sometimes accused Muslims of killing the animals.

Mr. Upadhay said the assailants on Sunday were neither cow vigilantes nor motivated by religious concerns, but had simply believed the young men were thieves.

“They should have caught them and handed them over to police,” he said. “We would have rewarded them. But now a crime has been committed and police will ensure justice to the victims.”

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page A7 of the New York edition with the headline: Mob in India Kills 2 Muslim Teenagers Accused of Stealing Cow. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe